Collapsible container



Aug. 9, 1955 v. H. HASSELQUIST COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER Filed Nov. 2, 1950aufs United States Patent O COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER Victor H. Hasselquist,Akron, Ohio, assiguor to The B. F. Goodrich Company, New York, N. Y. acorporation of New York Application November 2, 1950, Serial N0. 193,633

1 Claim. (C1. 4--177) This invention relates to collapsible containersand is especially useful in the manufacture of Wading pools, bathingpools, and the like for portable use.

lt has been proposed heretofore to provide portable containers made ofpliable sheet material for use as play ponds, wading ools, and the likein which the side Walls are held above the liquid in the container bytheir buoy ancy.

lt is an object of this invention to provide such a comtainer withincreased resistance to distortion when placed on a sloping surface.

Other objects of the invention are to provide improvide control of shapeof the container, to provide increased depth of the rim of thecontainer, to provide greater strength and to provide improvedappearance.

These and other objects Will appear from the following description andthe accompanying drawings.

Of the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the container constructed in accordancewith and embodying the invention, the container being shown as filledwith liquid.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view thereof, taken on line 22 cf Fig. 1,other parts being broken away.

Fig. 3 is a perspective exploded view of one-half of each part cf thecontainer in superimposed and spaced-apart relation before assemblythereof.

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of the container before being filled.

Referring to the drawings, the container has a flat bottom 10, usuallyround and of sheet material such as pliable plastic. About the bottomand attached thereabout by a seam 11 is a sidewall 12 of pliable sheetmaterial and comprising a normally flat outer Wall member 13 and anormally flat inner Wall member 14. Figure 3 illustrates the manner inwhich the several parts are assembled, the resulting container beinginside out with respect to the form in which it is intended to beemployed. As Seen in Fig. 3, the Wall member 14 is of less radial widththan the Wall member 13 but is coustructed of the samt: outsidediameter, the outer diameters of both Wall members being about equal tothat of the bottom member.

The sidewall members and the bottom member are all united to each otherabout their peripheries at the seam 11 and the inner and outer Wallmembers are united to each other along their inner peripheries, as atthe seam 15. As the inner Wall member 14 is of less width than the outerWall member 13 and the inner periphery of the inner wall member is ofless circurnference than that of the outer wall member 13, thiseircurnference is stretched to the circumference of the inner peripheryof the outer Wall member when seaming them together. This results in theseam 15 being drawn under the upper margin of the Z,?M,?2 Patented Aug.9, 1955 completed wall as indicated in Fig. 2 thereby providing a deeprolled margin when the parts of the container have been united andturned inside out from the positions shown in Figure 3.

The inner and outer walls are also united to each othercircumferentially at a position between their upper and lower margins asat 16, the seam being discontinuous as shown at 17 in Fig. 1 where theseam is discontinued at spacedapart positions to provide communicationbetween upper 18 and lower 19 inflatable spaces.

An inflation tube 20 is secured in an aperture of the inner Wall member.One end thereof extends downwardly as at 21 when the container isfilled, and is sealed by the liquid in the container. The opposite end22 stands ereet in the space 18 above the level of liquid Within thecontainer so that the liquid does not enter the spaces 18, 19.

The bottom and Wall members may be made of plasticized vinyl resinmaterial and tight seams may be made therein by heating sealing. Thisenables the sidewall and bottom members to be made up of separate piecesif desired. When this is done the sidewall members are preferably madeof segrnelits joined With searns 23, 24 extending radially of thecontainer. The bottom member rnay also be pieeed as at 25. The seams 11,15 and 16 are made by heat seaming.

The seam 16 reduces transfer of tension from the inner Wall member tothe outer Wall member and preserves the thickened form of the uppermargin of the sidewall while also improving the contour of the outerWall by providing a more deeorative appearance thereto. Moreover, thisconstruction provides a flexible hinge between the two pockets orchambers 18 and 19 permitting limited relative movernent therebetween sothat a force applied to the margin or rim of the container does notnecessarily deform the entire sidewall in the region of the force. Bymaking the seam 16 discontinuous,. air passages 17 are provided whichperrnit air to cireulate between chanr bers 18 and 19.

The tube 22 extends above the level of liquid in the container at alltirnes and prevents passage of liquid into chambers 18 and 19 while thesearning of the inner and outer Wall members at 16 keeps the Wall member12 bowed above the opening 22 so that it does not close ofi the opening.

In use of the container, air is blown into the tube 20 or the Wallmembers are grasped and drawn apart so as to cause air to enter charnber18. Liquid is then placed in the container and causes the sidewall. torise with the liquid by its buoyancy.

Variations may be made without departing from the scope of the inventionas it is defined by the following claim.

I clairn:

An open top collapsible liquid container comprising an imperviousflexible bottom With a flexible impervious wall extending around theperiphery of said bottom, the said Wall including inner and outerportions of impervious flexible sheet material providing an air chambertherebetween extending continuously thereabout, the periph oraldimension of the upper edge cf said Wall being less than the peripheraldimension of the bottom thereby adapting the Wall to extend upwardly andinwardly from said bottom, the said inner and outer portions beingjoined to each other in a circurnferentially extending regionintermediate the top and the bottom of the Wall by a discontinuouscircurnferential searn. to provide two flexibly hinged peripherallyextending air pockets With the discontinuities in said seam providingcommunicating passages betWeen said pockets, and means for introducingair between said portions, whereby said Wall is adapted to be buoyedupon the liquid in the container and the upper of said pockets can moverelative to the lower of said pockets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSFOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Feb. 19, 1903

